How many CFAs does it take to calculate the leverage on the BCE Inc. leveraged buyout? More than there are on Bay Street, apparently, but it seems clear that the once gold-plated BCE bonds are headed for the land of junk.

Nobody, not even the country's sharpest bond analysts and investors, is quite sure just exactly how much debt the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan-led buyout group will pile onto BCE if the planned leveraged buyout of the company comes to fruition. The best guesstimates seem to be between $26-billion and $29-billion of new borrowings on top of what's left outstanding when a few inconvenient maturities are redeemed (mostly the ones coming due during the four or five years the Teachers group is likely contemplating owning BCE before finding another buyer).

To continue reading this article, you must be a Globe Unlimited subscriber.

Don't stop here.
Go unlimited.

A Globe Unlimited subscription also gives you:

Full access to all our award-winning news articles and exclusive features

Access and availability on all devices and platforms

Real-time Stock Quotes that remove the 15-minute stock price delay on all Canadian stock portals

Next story

| Learn More

Discover content from The Globe and Mail that you might otherwise not have come across. Here we’ll provide you with fresh suggestions where we will continue to make even better ones as we get to know you better.

You can let us know if a suggestion is not to your liking by hitting the ‘’ close button to the right of the headline.

Restrictions

All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters is not liable for any errors or delays in Thomson Reuters content, or for any actions taken in reliance on such content. ‘Thomson Reuters’ and the Thomson Reuters logo are trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies.